Author: Orit ben Tzvi

Orit is Israel Rising's regional and threat analyst. She has a degree from IDC in Middle East Diplomacy and has served both intelligence related activities for the IDF as well as advised privately for firms doing business in the region.
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PM Netanyahu: No street in the State of Israel will be named after Arafat

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday (Saturday) that he will work to remove a street sign in the northern Israeli-Arab village of Jatt that is named after Yasser Arafat, former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority.

The street name attracted public attention following the complaints of a group of wounded IDF veterans.

Liran Baruch, a paratrooper who was wounded in action during an operation in Kalandiya, told Channel 10: “A friend of mine who went to serve in reserve duty near the village of Jatt noticed on Waze a street named after Yasser Arafat. He pointed this out to me right away, and I wrote a post on Facebook about it and notified the CEO of the Im Tirtzu organization, Matan Peleg.”

Im Tirtzu subsequently helped the wounded veterans pen a letter to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and bring the matter to the public agenda.

The Interior Ministry released a statement in response, stating that they were unaware of the street’s existence: “The Interior Ministry did not approve naming the street in Jatt after Yasser Arafat and such a request was never submitted to the Ministry.”

 

In a post on Netanyahu’s Facebook page, he wrote: “I heard about the wounded IDF veterans’ battle against calling a street after Yasser Arafat in the Jatt regional council that is in the northern Sharon. I spoke with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri about the matter, and he clarified that the Interior Ministry had not given any authorization.”

Netanyahu added, “No street in the State of Israel will be named after Arafat – and we will work to remove the street sign.”

Muhammad Tahar Wattad, head of the Jatt regional council, denied prior knowledge of the street’s existence, but added that he is not opposed to the street name: “From our perspective [Arafat] represents the official leader of the Palestinian people, with Israel recognizing him as a partner for negotiations. Therefore there is no legal, social or moral prohibition to name a street after him.”

Wattad also added that “whoever calls him a mass murder should take responsibility for his words.”

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With the Latest Judicial Appointments The Left’s Control Over the Israeli Supreme Court is Finally Falling Apart

Education Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted the following after four new Supreme Court Judges were chosen yesterday:

“Kudos to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked who has achieved the unbelievable and led a real revolution within the Judicial Selection Committee with the appointment of some wonderful conservative judges. Bravo, Ayelet!” 

There are few things most Israelis agree on. The Supreme Court being too favorable to leftist and international viewpoints is one of them. If the appointments yesterday of four non activist judges was a revolution, then the way Minister Shaked broke the negotiating power of the Left leaning Supreme Court was something that will forever change Israeli politics.

Shaked did this by threatening to back a bill in the Knesset which would have stripped the Supreme Court of the power to be part of the selection committee that decides who should be a Supreme Court Judge (that’s right, in Israel the Supreme Court gets to help decide its own members). Facing legislative extinction the old guard and leftist elite folded on the immediate selections and in order to keep a bit of power.  Shaked and the ruling government shelved the nuclear option in favor of changing the court from within.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said that “today we have made history. This evening the Judicial Selection Committee headed by me appointed four judges to the Supreme Court, after we have already appointed 150 judges since the beginning of my term in office. The appointment of the judges this evening will enable expression of the human and judicial mosaic which is so necessary for us as a society and was so lacking until today in the highest judicial forum. The rudder of our judicial flagship has changed its course tonight.”

Minister Shaked has now shown the way forward in battling the judicial tyranny of the Left.  Take it on directly and never back down.

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Nikki Haley: “The UN’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change.”

The first thing I want to do is talk about what we just saw in there. The Security Council just finished its regular monthly meeting on Middle East issues. It’s the first meeting like that that I’ve attended, and I have to say it was a bit strange. The Security Council is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But at our meeting on the Middle East, the discussion was not about Hizballah’s illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon. It was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists. It was not about how we defeat ISIS. It was not about how we hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of civilians. No, instead, the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that’s how the Council has operated, month after month, for decades.

I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I’m here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias. We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel. Instead, we will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East.

We stand for peace. We support a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is negotiated directly between the two parties, as President Trump reiterated in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. The outrageously biased resolutions from the Security Council and the General Assembly only make peace harder to attain by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table.

Incredibly, the UN Department of Political Affairs has an entire division devoted to Palestinian affairs. Imagine that. There is no division devoted to illegal missile launches from North Korea. There is no division devoted to the world’s number one state-sponsor of terror, Iran. The prejudiced approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues does the peace process no favors. And it bears no relationship to the reality of the world around us.

The double standards are breathtaking. Just a few days ago, the United States sought unsuccessfully to have the Security Council condemn a terrorist attack to Israel, where the terrorist opened fire on people waiting for a bus and then stabbed others. The Security Council would not hesitate to condemn an attack like that in any other country. But not for Israel. The statement was blocked. And that’s downright shameful.

Israel exists in a region where others call for its complete destruction and in a world where anti-Semitism is on the rise. These are threats that we should discuss at the United Nations as we continue working toward a comprehensive agreement that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But outside of the UN, there is some good news. Israel’s place in the world is changing. Israel is building up new diplomatic relationships. More and more countries recognize how much Israel contributes to the world. They are recognizing that Israel is a beacon of stability in a troubled region, and that Israel is at the forefront of innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological discovery.

It is the UN’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change. The United States will not hesitate to speak out against these biases in defense of our friend and ally, Israel.

I will say that I think we saw maybe a slightly different tone in the meeting, but we will have to see how it goes.

Thank you.

Transcription provided by UN Watch

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New Report: This is How European Governments Defend Terrorists in Israel’s Supreme Court

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg: “Foreign government-funded lawfare is a dangerous subversion of democracy”

A new report released by the Im Tirtzu movement exposes the industry of foreign government-funded lawfare that works to provide protection for terrorists in court. The report focuses on the NGO “HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual,” which submits dozens of petitions to the Supreme Court on behalf of terrorists and their families.
The report surveys the activities of HaMoked over the past two and a half years, during which the NGO has submitted nearly 60 petitions to the Supreme Court on behalf of 48 families of terrorists responsible for the murder of 50 people.
According to Im Tirtzu, the report aims to raise public awareness about the phenomenon of foreign-government backed NGOs operating in Israel’s Supreme Court in order to alter Israeli policy, specifically in regards to state-sanctioned home demolitions as a means to deter terrorism. The flood of petitions submitted to the Supreme Court hampers the ability of the IDF and Defense Ministry to operate.
This sentiment was echoed in 2016 by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman: “There is currently a war of legal attrition being waged by international bodies funded by other international elements, including European countries.”
According to the report, from 2012-2016 HaMoked received over 15,500,000 NIS from the European Union, United Nations, and 11 European governments: Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.
In addition, from 2008-2012 HaMoked received nearly 3,000,000 NIS from the New Israel Fund, and in 2014, HaMoked received 3,300,000 NIS from a Palestinian foundation based in Ramallah.
In the most recent wave of terror, HaMoked petitioned the Supreme Court against the home demolitions of the murderer of the Henkins, the murderer of Malachi Rosenfeld, the murderers of Danny Gonen, the murderer of Yeshayahu Krishevsky, the murderers of Aharon Banita-Bennett and Nehemia Lavi, the murderer of Baruch Mizrahi, the murderer of Taylor Force (an American tourist), the murderer of Shlomit Krigman, the murderers of Hadar Cohen, the murderer of Hallel Ariel, and the murderer of Rabbi Miki Mark.
HaMoked has also filed petitions against the home demolitions of the terrorists who murdered Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel in Gush Etzion, and the terrorists who murdered Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Calman Levine, Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, Chaim Rotman and Zidan Saif in the attack on a Harnof synagogue.
Devorah Gonen, the mother of Danny Gonen who was murdered by a terrorist while hiking near the village of Dolev in 2015, said: “We feel as if our loved ones were murdered a second time. This is a dangerous snowball; today they are defending terrorists in court and I fear that the next step will be even more extreme. It is sad that we need to beg in order to end this absurdity in which an Israeli organization defends, and at times justifies, those who murdered our loved ones.”
Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg said that the findings of the report highlight the need for the Israeli judicial system to adopt a new approach in dealing with political NGOs that serve the agendas of foreign governments.
“The judiciary needs to toughen its stance against foreign government-funded organizations that utilize their extensive bank accounts to harm the State of Israel,” said Peleg. “Increasing transparency and applying heavy court fees on these organizations, which for all intents and purposes act as foreign agents in the Supreme Court, are only some of the measures that need to be taken in order to protect Israel’s legal system.”
Peleg concluded: “European governments should stop undermining the sovereignty of the State of Israel – the sooner the better. Providing assistance to terrorists and their families not only encourages terror, but poses a real threat to democracy.”
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Reverend’s Pledge at Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony: “We will stand with you”

A United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day event was held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Fri, 27 January. As the event drew to a close, prayers were offered by the Kaumatua, Rabbi Friedler, and Rev. Arthur Comery. The prayer offered by Rev. Arthur Comery was punctuated with audible amens from the crowd and followed by a rousing burst of applause and affirmation. It so represented the sentiment of many who were present.

Our loving Heavenly Father, on this Holocaust Remembrance Day I come on behalf of the Christian Church.

Mere words cannot describe the depths of our sorrow and of our shame as we recall the six million who perished in the Holocaust, the pain and anguish in which the Church is so utterly complicit.

We reaffirm our sorrow and ask for forgiveness, acknowledging that the Church failed catastrophically to stand against a great evil.

But our thoughts must turn to the present, a present in which we glimpse a new evil arising, a present in which the legitimacy of the Jewish State is being threatened from so many quarters and dear Father we fear when we see the seeds of the old Jew-hatred posing as anti-Israel rhetoric, infesting so many parts of the church.

So on this solemn occasion, we do more than just remember the six million.

Today in this country and right around the world, thousands and thousands of Christians reaffirm our bonds with the survivors of the Holocaust, with the Jewish people and with the Jewish State and we give our solemn pledge that we will do everything in our power to make certain that the Jewish people will never face such evil alone again.

Our pledge is this: We will stand with you.  

Rev. Arthur Comery

Originally Posted on Shalom.Kiwi

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Outrage on the Eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day over German Funding of Anti-Israel NGO

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg: “Dishonors the memory of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust”

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day that will be marked worldwide on Friday, January 27, the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu released a new report documenting the German government’s funding of Zochrot, an Israeli NGO that works to “decolonize” Israel by promoting the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees.

Zochrot’s vision, according to its official website, is to “promote acknowledgement and accountability for the ongoing injustices of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 and the reconceptualization of the Return as the imperative redress of the Nakba.”

According to the official details from the Israeli Corporations Authority’s non-profit registrar cited in the report, from 2012-2016 the Government of Germany has provided over 1,100,000 NIS (290,000 USD) to Zochrot via two German foundations, Misereor and Rosa Luxemberg Stiftung, which are heavily funded by the federal German government.

Zochrot utilizes this extensive funding to engage in an array of controversial activities, including screening its “Film Festival on Nakba and the Right of Return” on college campuses during Israeli Apartheid Week, promoting an “iNakba” smartphone application, and defaming Israel on the world stage with slanderous language like “ethnic cleansing.”

In 2014, Zochrot CEO Eitan Bronstein and other of the organization’s officials participated in the production of a radical video that dubbed the Holocaust “the best thing that ever happened” to the Jewish people.

In response to the findings of the report, Im Tirtzu sent a letter to Germany’s ambassador to Israel Dr. Clemens Von Goetze demanding the secession of German funding to Zochrot.

“What gives the Government of Germany the right to undermine the character of another democratic and sovereign nation?” the letter reads. “We are calling on your government to immediately cease all funding of ‘Zochrot.’ This funding makes a mockery of any and all efforts to find a peaceful solution to any Israeli-Palestinian issues.”

The German Embassy has yet to respond to Im Tirtzu’s letter.

Germany’s funding of Zochrot also sparked outrage among the children of Holocaust survivors.

Noah Klein, the son of two Holocaust survivors, said:  “As a child of two Holocaust survivors I appreciate that despite the horrors of the Holocaust, Germany has been a great friend and supporter of Israel. However, it is very painful to me that Germany is funding an anti-Israel NGO whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish State. The remnant of my family lives in Israel, and Germany’s funding of such an organization that seeks to destroy their future must stop.”

Lori Fagelston, also the daughter of Holocaust survivors, noted: “This funding is a disgrace like no other. Only a few generations have passed, and Germany is again committing another grave injustice against the Jewish People by funding this anti-Israel organization. This needs to stop immediately.”

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg said: “The idea that Germany in 2017 is funding an organization that brazenly seeks to destroy the Jewish character of the State of Israel is a disgrace. This funding is not only dishonors the memory of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, but is anti-democratic at its core. This is another painful example of foreign governments working to impose their unwanted policies on the State of Israel via anti-Israel NGOs from within.”

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[watch] Bennett Rising: “For the First Time in Fifty Years Our Destiny is Ours to Choose”

With Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu under increased investigations and the new Trump administration showing flexibility in terms of potential Israeli sovereignty in areas of Judea and Samaria, Naftali Bennett is stepping up his push to end the two state solution as we understand it.

Bennett spoke at the Institute for National Security Studies [INSS] today and forcibly gave across his views of the changing times we live in.


‏”‏First point, a Palestine exists [referring to Hamas in Gaza]. ‏Granted, it’s a terror state. It terrorizes its own population and attacks Israeli schools and hospitals using rockets and attack tunnels. ‏This leads to the second point: Apply Israeli law in Area C, the Israeli controlled areas. We will not annex the land, because one can only annex something foreign. ‏This is the Land of Israel, to which Jews have been connected for thousands of years. ‏It is where 450,000 Israelis live.”

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Naftali Bennett: Either Sovereignty or Palestine

Education Minister Naftali Bennett directly challenged Prime Minister Netanyahu today at a meeting with his Jewish Home faction to push forward with his annexation plan.

“The US is entering a new era. The State of Israel is also this week entering a new era for national security,” Bennett said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu faces a historic decision: either sovereignty or Palestine. Either sovereignty or ISIS on Route 6.”

“We call upon Prime Minister Netanyahu: don’t miss this opportunity which came only after 50 years. We will give complete backing to the Prime Minister to act with courage and determination. There is a perception that we must continue to manuever and defend, but we must initiate [policy] and stick with it.”

He recalled that in 1981, former Prime Minister Menachem Begin acted “with courage” and applied Israeli sovereignty to the Golan Heights. “Today we all understand that he (Begin) was correct. No one will take care of the security of Israel if we do not do it [ourselves]. This is the time for action, not excuses.”

The Prime Minister later responded to Naftali Bennett’s remarks with his own.

“After eight years of pressure I welcome the change in attitude in the White House,” Netanyahu said. “We are faced with great opportunities, but they require responsibility and discretion.”

Netanyahu dealt directly with the question applying sovereignty over Maale Adumim: “We are facing opportunities for the State of Israel, but they require a judgment call. This is not the time for knee-jerk reactions, [hasty] orders, and surprises. We need a responsible and prudent diplomacy. For the good of the State of Israel, and for the good of the settlements, I suggest that everyone put aside all other considerations and allow me to lead. We are entering a new era and we are strengthening our foreign relations.”